NE man is jailed
for insurance fraud

During a court hearing last month, admitted con artist Daniel Keane insisted he was no more culpable than co-conspirators for staging dozens of accidents that raked in millions of dollars in medical and legal claims over seven years.
But judging by the federal prison sentence issued him last week, Keane, 63, of the 700 block of Marchman Road in Bustleton, might be considered the kingpin of slip-and-fall.
U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin ordered the Bustleton resident to spend 37 months behind bars for his role in the scheme, which included recruiting and training people to fake falls and injuries, then leading them to doctors and personal injury attorneys who were also in on the scam.
By contrast, the lone attorney convicted or charged so far in the ongoing investigation, Center City-based Michael Radbill, is serving a prison term of one year and one day.
After his release, Keane will have to pay $150 a month toward hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution.
Prosecutors estimate that the scheme took in between $1 million and $2.5 million from 1994 to 2001, with Keane pocketing more than $300,000 from 1997 to 2001.
He never filed income tax returns for those years, however, and evaded about $106,000 in taxes.
Keane pleaded guilty to health-care fraud and tax evasion in the case.
Under standard federal sentencing guidelines, he faced a punishment of 70 to 87 months behind bars, but defense attorney David Kozlow argued for a lesser sentence because of the defendant’s cooperation with FBI agents later in the probe, as well as his advanced age and poor health.
Prosecutors, claiming that Keane continued orchestrating fake accidents while he was supposed to be assisting investigators, asked the judge to impose a 70-month prison term.
Keane was ordered to report to prison on Sept. 13. ••